


Deleted Scene 5: Ted Will Try

by paladin_cleric_mage



Series: I Want to Break Free [8]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:53:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paladin_cleric_mage/pseuds/paladin_cleric_mage
Summary: Corresponds to Chapter 54: Mike
Series: I Want to Break Free [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1419694
Comments: 8
Kudos: 7





	Deleted Scene 5: Ted Will Try

Sunday afternoon the young Byers’ boy was at the door.

“I wasn’t aware Michael was expecting company,” said Ted, leaning against the frame with his other hand on the doorknob. 

Will rocked on his heels. Always such a nervous boy. Like his mother, that one. He’d looked up at Ted and admitted, “He’s not. I know he’s grounded, but, can I see him?”

“I’m afraid his mother’s been quite strict, especially this weekend. You see, yesterday was Nancy’s eighteenth birthday, and this morning was the first time we visited her stone.”

“Her-- her headstone? She has a gravesite?”

Ted gave a curt nod. “Indeed she does.”

“All the more reason to see him,” Will insisted, backed by an urgency that disturbed him. “Just for a little while. Please. You won’t even know I’m here.”

* * *

After hanging up the phone, Ted waited for Will in the kitchen. He walked him to the front door and outside, where he closed the door behind them and lowered his voice in spite of their being out of doors. “You know,” he’d started, “if it weren’t for my wife, I’d let Michael go with you. Or let you stay here. Frankly, that week you boys ran the house was the easiest since losing Nancy.” He had paused, feeling something. “Since then I haven’t seen my son smile. He hardly speaks and when he does it's to cause problems.”

“He's not causing problems,” Will responded, oddly flushed. 

“Well, I don't suppose you'd see it that way, would you? Let's just say my family is in complete disarray. I mean,” he chucked, checking his watch, “it’s near time for dinner and my wife is still in bed! From where I’m standing, your family is looking quite put together right about now.”

“Yeah.” Will had smiled uncomfortably, taking a pause. Then  he had rocked on his heels and boldly asked Ted, “Do you miss her?”

“Who, Nancy? Sure I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

He nodded. “Of course, it's just, I don’t think Mike knows you miss her. Like you said, Mrs. Wheeler is still lost and Holly’s so little. You’re the only other person he has here. Maybe you can talk to him. About her, about what’s going on. About anything.”

“Why, I do talk to him!”

“I mean _help_ him. Keep an eye on him, like I do.”

“Like you do, huh?”

“Yes.”

Ted absorbed this curiously. “How do you do it? How do you make him feel better in this difficult time?”

“Well, I’m his--” Will struggled there-- “best friend.”

“Right, friends. Something he needs more of.” He stepped back and gave a heavy sigh. “If I get a chance tonight I’ll speak to his mother, set her straight on grounding him. It didn’t seem right. All he’d done was gather school supplies and hand her a pamphlet.”

“Pamphlet?”

“Yes. Some group called the something  _ friends _ . Compensating--”

“Compassionate. The Compassionate Friends group, yeah. I remember Lenore telling us about it.”

“Lenore?”

“Are you going? You and Mrs. Wheeler, it’d be great if you guys went to some of those meetings.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“Think about it, Mr. Wheeler. It could really help.”

"Alright," he'd answered, not meaning it, and saw the boy off.

By the time he'd sidled back into the kitchen to puzzle over the food situation, Mike had made his way up from the basement looking like he did years ago, as a child just about Holly's age, in pajamas in the hallway upstairs saying he'd had a nightmare. Rubbing his eyes and asking if he could sleep in Mom and Dad's bed. What were his nightmares about then? What goes through his head now to make him look as if he's living one? Is being a part of this family really that bad? Years ago he would have lifted Mike high on his hip and carried him into their bedroom. Holly's room was a guest room back then, for when Karen's mother or his own visited, and part home office, and Nancy would be safe asleep in her oversized bed with fluffy covers. Nancy always slept soundly. It was Michael who gave them trouble, until elementary school when he'd finally made some friends. Will being one of them, maybe even the first. Those nights he'd sleep between he and Karen, Ted would be lulled back into a slumber listening to his soft breathing, holding his little hand.

"Come on," he had told Michael in the kitchen. "How about we order a pizza?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Ah, just a ride into town with your old man. Roll down the windows for some fresh air. How's that sound?"

"Yeah," he nodded unconvincingly, "sounds good."

  
  



End file.
